


The Doll House Is Empty

by tingles22



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Between Episodes, Canon Compliant, Crying, Dick Grayson is sad, M/M, Wally West but he’s a doll, Wally West is still dead, Young Justice Outsiders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-13 16:12:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17491163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tingles22/pseuds/tingles22
Summary: Dick stumbles through his messy apartment searching for the one thing he knew could comfort him.Pain meds? No.Alcohol? No.Food? No.The one thing Dick needs at the moment is his small Kid Flash stuffed doll.





	The Doll House Is Empty

**Author's Note:**

> Title: The Doll House Is Empty by The Everly Brothers
> 
>  
> 
> Shoutout to the discord for reminding me of the Wally doll! And shoutout to the Wally doll for staring at me as I wrote this.

Whenever Dick feels completely and utterly burnt out, all he wants to do is curl up in a ball and forget the world. Forget the world that took his Wally from him. His Kid Flash, his everything. 

Tonight is one of the bad nights. After taking out his anger on a plethora of bad guys, all Dick wants to do is lay down and cry. Disoriented by grief, Dick crawls through his window, knocking over items on the table below. 

Dick stumbles through his messy apartment searching for the one thing he knew could comfort him. 

Pain meds? No. 

Alcohol? No. 

Food? No. 

The one thing Dick needs at the moment is his small Kid Flash stuffed doll. 

Pathetic? Maybe. 

A dumb toy is the only thing he keeps that reminds him of Wally in his apartment. A dumb toy is the only thing he can bare.

Dick snatches the doll off of its place on floor. It lays half covered by a blanket thrown off in a hurry.

When it’s just him and the doll, Dick allows himself to cry. He lets heavy tears drip down his face in waves as he cradles pieces of fabric and stuffing all sewn together as if it were a friend. As if it were his friend.

They never found Wally’s body. He “ceased” as the Blue Beetle said on that cold, dreary day in the arctic. Without a body, Dick didn’t have anything physical to grieve over. A gravestone, sure, but with an empty casket underneath.

So, the doll. It’s the “body” that Dick doesn’t have. It’s his excuse to cry.

\--------

Dick bought it on a rare sunny day in Gotham. A day Wally would have loved. Perfect clouds in a perfect sky. Perfect people in perfect parks. Dick thought the day was anything but perfect as he didn’t have his best friend to spend it with.

Dick’s eyes glanced over store windows as he slowly walked down the street. He was paying a visit to Bruce when they got into a nasty fight about how Dick wasn’t taking care of himself in the wake of the Reach invasion.

Bruce refused to admit his ward is hurting because of Wally’s death.

Dick refused to admit it, too.

With his phone endlessly ringing in his pocket--probably Tim concerned about him storming out--Dick spotted it.

A seemingly unimportant comic book store suddenly became the only important thing that had unfolded that day.

The store window was filled with small Kid Flash plushies. All stacked up in a perfect pyramid on that perfect day.

Dick only realized he moved and entered the store when the bell on the door rang out, startling him out of his daze.

“Hi!” a cheery employee looked up to meet Dick’s dull eyes, “How can I help you today?”

After a beat too long, Dick’s shaky voice replied, “Uh...how much for one of the Kid Flashes?” 

The employee with a grin far too big got up to grab a doll from the display. “They are about fifteen dollars! Anything else I can get for you?” He all but skips back to the register to ring Dick up.

The transaction is smooth. Expected, sure, but Dick wouldn’t have been surprised if Bruce froze his card after their yelling match. 

The employee happily packages the doll up and hands Dick the bag. “I hope your little one enjoys it, sir!”

Dick only waved, afraid that if he spoke he’d burst into tears all over again.

\--------

Dick wishes the doll didn’t have such accurate eyes. Bright green eyes stare up at him as he tucks it into his side as he picks up the overturned blanket on the floor of his apartment.

The doll stares at Dick from its place on the counter as Dick fixes himself a hearty bowl of cereal for dinner. (Breakfast? What time is it anyway?). 

The doll stares at Dick from its place in his arms as Dick settles onto his couch to catch G. Gordon Godfrey’s latest hot take on meta-human trafficking.

The doll stares at Dick from its place in his hands as Dick allows himself to cry. 

He’s overwhelmed. Not underwhelmed, not just whelmed, but completely and utterly overwhelmed. 

Sobs make their way through Dick’s throat as he thinks about everything going on around him.

How is it that covert missions go so south so quickly?

Dick feels lost, hurt, and oh so confused. 

What to do about Halo and Brion?

What to do about all the other meta children being taken advantage of?

What to do about Wally?

The poor, pathetic doll catches Dick’s tears as he cries and cries. 

Dick holds the doll up to eye level, looks at it, and chokes around a sob.

Dick cries for the chaos in his life. He cries for the metas being objectified. He cries for Wally West, lost to the unknown.

As he holds his small Wally, all Dick wants is his real Wally.

He wants his best friend. He wants the man he loves. Two years dragged on, and continue to drag on. Dick misses Wally. Dick wants Wally. Dick needs Wally.

Dick needs Wally to hold and cry into, not a doll. 

As Dick cries into the doll, he forcefully presses it into his eyes in a weak attempt to catch his tears. 

When he gets like this, nothing can console him. Not even is sad, little Kid Flash doll.

\--------

Well into his personal pity party, Dick’s phone begins to ring.

Dick allows it to go to voicemail, and isn’t surprised at the message.

“Hey, Dick,” Artemis’s voice wrings out through his apartment, “I was just checking in on you. We haven’t heard from you in the past few days were hoping you were doing alright. Halo is doing fine and I assume so is Brion, but you need to step up. These kids need you. We need you. Call me back when you can.”

A beep signaling the end of the message rings loud and harsh. Dick can barely hear it over his sobs.

Dick carefully places the doll on his lap and reaches for his phone next to him. If he doesn't respond to Artemis now, he doubts he ever will.

Foregoing a phone call, Dick decides to text Artemis.

“Hey, sorry I missed your call. Talk tomorrow?” Simple and straight to the point.

Dick kids himself thinking that will solve the problem, but he has zero energy to do anything else. He’d like to finish crying in peace, thank you very much.

His phone rings again, this time for a face call. Knowing he can’t ignore Artemis any longer, Dick knows he needs to answer it. He freaks and grabs the doll to dab at his eyes in an attempt to make himself presentable. He launches up, and turns off the overhead light so that the only light on is a sad, dying lamp behind him. 

He quickly jumps back on the couch, squishing the doll under his thigh in the process.

If Artemis knew he was crying...ugh. He really didn't want to deal with that today.

After settling back down into his couch, Dick finally picks up his phone and answers Artemis.

Once she appears on screen, Dick speaks. “Hey, Artie, what’s up?” Dick laughs quietly, trying to pull himself together. 

Artemis looks unamused. “Why did you ignore my first call just to text me immediately after?” Straight to the point.

Dick grimaces, “Uh, my phone was on silent?” 

“Bullshit,” Artemis let out a long sigh, “Dick, I’m worried about you. We need to find a home for both Halo and Brion, because as sweet as they are, Will and I and M’gann and Connor are doing our best but--” Artemis freezes, “Dick have you been crying?”

Damn. “Uh, no?” Dick cringes at his obvious lie. 

Artemis frowns, “Do you want to talk about it?”

What did Dick do to deserve such amazing friends? But, no Dick doesn't want to talk about it. 

“Nah, nothing to talk about! Like I said, I’m not crying.”

“Dick, you are full of shit.”

“I mean, technically--” 

Artemis cuts him off, “Seriously, Dick. What’s wrong?”

And with that, Dick loses his grip on his tear ducts. He feels his eyes prickle, and a few determined tears slip down his face.

“Dick…” Artemis’s voice fills with pity.

“No,” Dick speaks quick, wanting desperately to just hang up, “I’m fine, Artemis. Now what do you need or can I go back to what I was doing?” Rude? Yes, but Dick is beyond tired and beyond salvaging the conversation.

Dick shifts on the couch, searching for a more comfortable position as Artemis searches for her words on the other side of his screen. Second nature, really, but as his body shifts so does his phone. The doll, squished from his frenzy earlier comes into view of camera and reveals itself to Artemis.

He doesn't realize the doll in the frame at first, but when he does it's already too late.

“Dick, is that what I think it is?” Artemis speaks slowly, emotion filling her voice, “Is that a doll of Wally?”

Dick doesn't speak. What could he even say? Sorry I cry into a doll of your dead boyfriend who, by the way, I’m in love with? No thanks.

After a few beats, Artemis speaks again. “Dick...I miss him. I miss him so much. I know you feel that way, too. But...a doll? That can’t be healthy.” Artemis’s voice wavers, full of concern and worry.

Dick doesn’t justify Artemis with a reply. Instead he closes his eyes, hangs up, and lays down. 

Childish? Yes, but Dick can’t deal with that right now. He knows she means well, but he is too sensitive and strung out to even begin to talk about what a dumb doll means to him, what those pieces of fabric that resemble his dead best friend mean to him.

As he settles deeper into his couch, his phone begins to ring again. Artemis, the screen reads. She’s not done with him yet. 

Foregoing answering, Dick instead turns off his phone. They’ll talk tomorrow, but right now Dick needs to breathe.

Dick carefully holds his doll to his chest. 

Pathetic? Yes. 

Necessary? Yes. 

Dick gradually falls asleep, the doll tucked tight to his chest.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading!!! Find me on twitter and tumblr @tingles22
> 
>  
> 
> Here’s a url of the doll in question if you’re curious:
> 
> https://www.hottopic.com/product/funko-dc-young-justice-supercute-plushies-kid-flash-plush-collectible-hot-topic-exclusive/11528321.html


End file.
